Chapter Text
Satsuki had never been much good at waking up as a human. Neither the sun nor the cold had ever proved much good at stirring from bed a second earlier than she had to.
That was one of the odder perks of vampirism. For the small price of more or less everything, she’d found freedom from the tyranny of the clock. Numerical time no longer had any influence on her circadian patterns, but she had to accomplish things by some time or other. Generally though, she spent the night as she saw fit.
Nowadays, she found herself waking after sunset, regardless of the actual time. After that, she had to figure out how to spend the night.
The freedom was almost suffocating, to be frank. There was the rub of the actual circumstances of said freedom, of course.
For the first couple of weeks, Satsuki had tried her best to be nice. After a while, she'd given up, and decided that she'd eat as little as possible.
She glanced at the clock. It was 10:30 in the evening. She groaned, and decided it was best to stop ruminating. She shook off the last of the sleepiness, and stepped out onto the balcony.
The building wasn’t too tall on its own, but it had been built on a tiny hill near the outskirts, giving it a good vantage point over most of Misaki.
As far as Satsuki could remember, construction on it had stopped when she was in middle school, and it had lay incomplete ever since. No one had even taken the effort to knock it down.
The entire place was minimal, but it was hers. It certainly beat sleeping in an alley. Besides, no one came by to bother her. Well, there had been an incident with some urban explorers, but Satsuki couldn’t blame herself for what had happened. They’d woken her up, after all.
Satsuki hopped down from her lair, and began her nightly wandering, sticking to the rooftops, taking care to avoid the busy parts of town. After a few minutes she managed to find a nice, flat roof downtown and lay against an AC unit, staring up at the dim blue sky. The waning moon was lovely tonight.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Three blades struck in the roof around Satsuki. Quickly, Satsuki jumped to her feet and surveyed her surroundings. She turned in time to see a familiar silhouette land on the other end of the roof.
Ciel.
Satsuki flung herself aside just in time for another blade to strike where her head had been.
It was a dead end; all around her were tall concrete walls. Satsuki contemplated jumping, but upon hearing her pursuer’s footsteps she thought better of it. She’d rather not end up pinned to the wall like an insect. Instead, she turned, and charged blindly, estimating that she’d reach the end of the alley at the same instant Ciel turned the corner. She readied a fist, and Her guess was correct. She and Ciel only had a millisecond to see each other before they collided. Satsuki lunged forward, aiming for the shoulder.
“Ghhhhhaa… Ciel gasped as Satsuki punched straight through her shoulder. Ciel’s left arm was still attached to her body, but just barely. Literally hanging on by a thread; Satsuki watched for a moment as blood gushed from the wound. She lost herself in the sight long enough that the wound began healing. Satsuki refocused in time for Ciel to toss yet another volley of blades her way. She dodged the first two, but the third grazed her, cutting a gash in her shoulder.
“Gyahhh!” Satsuki yelped. She’d been running, but the pain had frozen her in place. Ciel wasted no time in approaching her. She pushed Satsuki off balance, and with a powerful kick, knocked her into the wall.
Upon trying to stand up again, Satsuki collapsed, and was left leaning against the wall in front of her opponent. She tried once more, but before she could, she felt three impacts followed by three sharp, burning pains.
Ciel had pinned her to the wall with three blades. One in the stomach, and one in each hand. Satsuki looked up, and saw Ciel standing over her. Her face was cold and impassive.
“That was invigorating.” Ciel said, stepping forward to admire her handiwork. The gash in her cheek closed as she cracked her knuckles.
Satsuki closed her eyes, awaiting whatever end her executioner was going to deliver. She heard a clatter., and opened her eyes. Instead of finishing her, Ciel had set aside her weapons, and knelt in front of Satsuki. She grabbed Satsuki by the collar, and pulled her forward until their faces were only inches apart. Meanwhile, her other hand drifted downward across Satsuki’s sternum, before veering off to touch the blade embedded in her stomach.
Her finger traced the outline of the entrance wound, caressing the skin around the blade.
“How’s this?” Ciel asked.
“W-what do you think?” Satsuki choked. She started coughing. Every shudder brought a new wave of suffering as the blade embedded within her cut deeper, shredding her abdomen with every movement. Ciel pressed a finger inside the wound, and briefly wiggled it around, fingering the wound. Satsuki tried to reach down to stop her, but it was no use. Her hands were still pinned to the wall above her.
“Ghhhhkkk…” A fresh spurt of gore forced its way out Satsuki’s mouth as she coughed.
“Oh my.” Ciel muttered, watching as Satsuki hacked up her insides. Suddenly, she reached for her blades, pulling them out of Satsuki one by one. Resigned to her fate, Satsuki stared forwards, awaiting the finishing blow. Instead, Ciel cut a deep gash into her own neck.
“What are you-”
“You need to drink.” Ciel said.
Satsuki gasped as Ciel grabbed her chin, and began guiding her mouth towards her wound.
Satsuki felt dizzy. Ciel had brought her within inches of death, and now she was trying to help her? It was all so strange.
Her lips met blood, and she began to drink. She could feel herself return to life as more and
Satsuki realized the wound had closed and briefly pulled away.
“Ah, has it healed already? Ciel mumbled, running a hand across her own neck. “I-”
Satsuki sensed her chance. She jerked forward, catching Ciel’s neck. She bit down hard.
“Guhh.” Ciel groaned, slumping forward. Satsuki’s hand grabbed the back of Ciel’s head, pushing her towards her. She needed more.
“Ahh…” Ciel moaned as Satsuki began to suck on the wound.
She hadn’t had anything to drink in a week. The blood she'd lapped before was nothing compared to what she was drinking now. It never seemed to end.
Eventually she’d had her fill, and tore herself away from Ciel’s neck. Once she’d managed to tear her eyes away from the fluid still oozing from Ciel’s neck, Satsuki’s gaze drifted to her face. She wore a vacant far-off expression. Eyes foggy; mouth agape. Satsuki felt a light prickling in her chest as she took the sight in. It was almost… cute? That didn’t seem like the right word for it, but no others came to mind.
After staring for what must have been a few minutes, she got a hold of herself, and began to crawl away. Ideally, Ciel would remain dazed long enough for her to escape; however, before she reached the exit of the alley she heard a shuffling noise.
“Pity.” Ciel growled.
“Eh?” Satsuki spun around, watching as Ciel stood up and dusted herself off.
“Ah, I’m just being selfish.” Ciel said casually. “I was hoping that would last a little longer.”
Satsuki stared at her, unsure of how to respond. Instinct begged her to take off running, but she stayed rooted in place, watching as Ciel gathered and put away her weapons.
“You’re not going to try and finish me?” Satsuki asked.
“Hm? No, I’m satisfied with tonight.” Ciel said.
Satsuki still wasn’t quite sure what was happening.
“Um, ah, if you’re not going to be doing anything else, I think I’m going to leave.” Satsuki mumbled, shuffling around uncomfortably.
“I’d best be going as well.” Ciel agreed.
Ciel smiled at her.
“Goodbye. I’d be disappointed if you died before we meet again, so take care of yourself.”
With that Ciel disappeared into the darkness, leaving Satsuki alone.
All Satsuki could think was: “What a strange encounter.”
Served her right for going out on such a clear night.